


Hide and Seek

by Athetos



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Future Fic, Gen, Post-Series, fanchild, glimadora child, teleporting toddlers are a lot of trouble
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-07
Updated: 2020-02-07
Packaged: 2021-02-27 21:53:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22592827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Athetos/pseuds/Athetos
Summary: Catra and Scorpia agree to babysit Glimmer and Adora's daughter, thinking that they could handle a single evening with the toddler.  However, when the child suddenly learns how to teleport, the entire castle is thrown into chaos.
Relationships: Adora/Glimmer (She-Ra), Bow/Perfuma (She-Ra), Catra/Scorpia (She-Ra), Mermista/Sea Hawk (She-Ra)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 65





	Hide and Seek

**Author's Note:**

> I named Glimmer and Adora's daughter Harper after the fanchild from curiousscientistkae's works. Other than the name, there's no connection between the two original characters. Enjoy!

“Why exactly did we agree to this again?”

Catra had to raise her voice to be heard over the crying toddler in her arms. She gently stroked the little girl’s pink hair, careful not to scratch her scalp with her claws. Her shirt was drenched with tears from the girl's watery sobs. Harper, barely a year old, seemed inconsolable, and if Catra had to hear one more minute of her theatrical wailing, she’d -

“Because Glimmer and Adora wanted to go on a date, and Bow always babysits, so we thought we’d be nice and give him a break so he could go on his own date with Perfuma, and babies are super cute but I didn’t realize they’d be this _loud_.” Scorpia hovered anxiously over her girlfriend’s shoulder, her barbed tail standing tall and tense. Their shared room in the castle was littered with children’s toys, and she had to step carefully to avoid slipping on a stuffed animal.

Catra turned around and thrust the still-blubbering infant into the taller woman’s arms. “Maybe she’ll like you holding her more, you’re like, super cuddly and actually like children.” 

Scorpia awkwardly balanced Harper without accidentally snipping her with her pincers, letting the little girl wrap her arms around her neck and press her tear-stained face against her cheek. 

“Maybe one of my world-famous hugs will make you feel better!” She squeezed the toddler as tightly as she dared, all too aware of how strong she was compared to the tiny tot. 

Harper sniffled, and let up her onslaught of tears for a moment. Both caretakers let out a breath they didn’t realize they were holding, before she resumed her wailing at full volume, curling her hands into little fists. 

“Well, it was worth a shot”, Scorpia mumbled. She began to pace back and forth, rubbing the child’s back through her shirt, making sure her tail was curled as far away from the infant as possible. The last thing she wanted to worry about was accidentally poisoning the poor kid. “Did Adora or Glimmer say anything about what calms her down?” 

Catra gave her a full-body shrug. “Not really. They said she almost never cries. I tried giving her food, or one of her toys, but she just shoves it away and cries even harder. And she just took a nap, so I don’t think she’s still tired… Maybe she just hates us. Or maybe…. Maybe she wants her Uncle Bow!” 

Scorpia shook her head. “Absolutely not, wildcat. Bow’s on his date, and we promised we could handle this.”

“But he would probably know what to do!”

“Catra... listen, we’ve literally saved the entire world, like, on at least two separate occasions. I think we can handle a crying toddler.” 

Catra sighed. “You’re right, babe. We can do this. Here, let me take the scamp back.” She lifted Harper out of Scorpia’s arms, and cradled her close to her chest. She thought hard; what always comforted her when she was little? Growing up in the Horde, she didn’t have anyone to rock her back and forth in their arms, or sing her to sleep. All she had was herself and Adora, and there was only one thing that calmed them both down after long days and nightmares…

Catra started to purr, the raspy hum bubbling up from deep within her chest. Her entire body seemed to gently vibrate, releasing the tension from her muscles, and the tip of her tail flicked back and forth, like a playful metronome. 

Harper’s sobs slowly died down to sniffles, and she raised one hand to rub the moisture from her gray eyes. She blinked slowly, mouth forming a wobbly smile, and smooshed her face into Catra’s collarbone. For a minute, the only sound was that of Catra’s purring. Then another hum joined hers, a higher pitched rumble that came in fits and starts. 

“Oh my god, Catra, Harper is trying to purr too!” Scorpia’s pincers were clasped in front of her, and her eyes sparkled with adoration. It was all too easy to imagine hearts circling Scorpia’s head as she watched her girlfriend dote on the tiny child. 

Harper lifted her head and made eye contact with Catra, before giggling. A toothy smile split Catra’s face in half, and she continued purring even louder now, which made Harper squeal with delight. She began walking around the room, bouncing the toddler in her arms, while Scorpia tried not to cry from how utterly cute the entire scene was. 

Suddenly, Harper’s eyes focused on something over Catra’s shoulder. Catra stood still, noticing the sudden change in demeanor in the infant, but refused to stop purring. _Please don’t cry again please don’t cry again please don’t cry again -_

“Catra, it’s your tail! She’s watching your tail!” Scorpia clapped her hands together excitedly. 

Catra twitched her tail tip experimentally, and sure enough, Harper’s gaze flicked to the right to follow it. She twitched to the left. Then back to the right. Then left again. Harper was completely mesmerized, her mouth wide open, drool dripping down her chin. She reached her hands out as far as she could, wanting to grab onto the appendage. Catra flicked her tail closer, almost close enough for Harper to touch, before jerking it away. Harper squealed some more. Catra moved her tail closer, quickly, just enough to lightly boop the baby on her nose before moving it once again back out of reach. Harper was delighted, her laughter filling the room.

They played like that for a while, but as time went on, Harper got increasingly upset she couldn’t grab a hold of Catra’s tail. Sure, Catra would let her touch it, but never enough to wrap her hand around it - She wasn’t very keen on the idea of a child yanking on her tail. Not that Harper would understand that. To be honest, Catra wasn’t even sure if Harper understood that her tail was connected to the rest of her body. So she made sure her tail was never too still. 

Glitter danced on the edge of Catra’s vision, then Harper’s weight was completely gone. Her arms were holding empty air.

“What just - “

“Oh. My. God.” Scorpia’s jaw was just about on the floor. 

“Where did she go?? How?” Catra looked back and forth frantically for the toddler, flabbergasted.

Until she felt something yanking on her tail.

“Yowch!” Snapping her tail away from whatever grabbed it, she spun around, only to find Harper standing unsteadily behind her. She seemed to glow, a gentle purple that was just barely noticeable, then disappeared once again in a fit of sparkles. She giggled, but the sound came from Catra’s right. Sure enough, the kid was now on her other side, trying to reach her tail without losing balance and falling over. 

“She can _teleport!?_ ” Catra and Scorpia spoke at the same time, incredulously. Neither even knew that Glimmer’s magical powers were inheritable! Did Glimmer even know they were? Was this Harper’s first time doing this? It must have been, considering Glimmer and Adora clearly would have alerted the couple if they were aware their daughter could teleport…

“I can barely take care of a regular kid, let alone a magical kid!” Catra was still shocked. “Is there a way to stop her from teleporting? What if she vanishes and we can’t find her? What do we - “

“It’s okay, wildcat!” Scorpia cut her girlfriend off before she could work herself into an anxiety attack. “She’s little, and probably doesn’t have much power! Glimmer had to use the moonstone to recharge, right? So maybe she only has enough energy for a few teleports and then we’ll be able to keep her safe and sound. Nothing’s going to happen! It’s not like she’d teleport to a random room in the castle and we’d have to go on a wild goose hunt to find her, right?”

Before Catra could reply, Harper phased out of existence with a splash of purple stars. The couple scanned the room, expecting her to pop up any moment, but there was no sign of the kid. The chamber wasn’t very large, and she should reappear by now… Scorpia checked behind the curtains, while Catra crawled under the bed, using her excellent night vision to see in the dark.

No sign of Harper. 

Scorpia sighed. “Me and my big mouth. I just had to say that, didn’t I?” She curled in on herself, trying to make her imposing frame small. “She’s so tiny, and fragile, and she could be anywhere, there are so many rooms… oh god her moms are going to kill us… what do we do now?”

Catra took a deep breath, then placed a hand on her partner’s shoulder. “It’s okay, love. I’m nervous too. Like, _really_ nervous. But it’s okay. We can find her. She can’t have gone too far! She’s probably not that powerful, like you said, right? And we know she loves her uncle Bow…”

Scorpia overlaid her claw on Catra’s, and nodded. “She might be with Bow and Perfuma. Let’s go find them first.”

The couple ran from the room, barely remembering to shut the door behind them.

\------------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Perfuma said she wanted to take him on a date, Bow assumed that they’d go outside the castle, and grab something to eat and drink at a cafe or go for a walk in the woods. He was surprised when she suggested spending the evening in the castle’s indoor garden, but happily agreed. He honestly couldn’t remember the last time he actually visited it; he generally associated the garden with Shadow Weaver, considering it had acted as her cell back when she was Bright Moon’s prisoner. But that was years ago, and Bow was more than ready to replace those tense times with new memories.

His fingers were loosely laced with Perfuma’s, as the slender woman gently led him through the domed room, pointing out and naming all the flowers. Bow wasn’t much of a flower expert; he knew roses, daisies, and sunflowers, but that was about it. Perfuma, however, was in her element, and she looked positively radiant as a bright smile bloomed on her face. Her eyes twinkled and her cheeks were flushed and her voice was passionate and honey-drenched, and Bow’s heart skipped a beat as she caught his eye. She was beautiful, and he could listen to her ramble about the plants for days on end, soaking up her knowledge like a plant in sunlight.

“And these here are zinnias.” Perfuma nodded at a colorful array of blossoms with fluffy petals. “They’re annuals, so they come back every spring, and thrive in hot temperatures. They don’t do well with the cold, though.” 

“Me neither”, Bow answered, and the couple shared a light chuckle.

Perfuma pointed at another group of flowers, these ones with showy blue and purple petals. “Those are hydrangeas. They’re special, because their color is determined by the pH level of the soil. Since they’re blue and purple, we can tell that they must be growing in acidic soil, but if they were pink and red, we’d know that the soil is alkaline.” 

Bow nodded along, amazed. Who knew there were so many cool facts to learn about flowers?

“To your left, there are snapdragons, which are - Oh!“ Perfuma suddenly snapped her mouth shut, and pulled her free hand to her chest. Her eyes widened in alarm. 

“Perfuma? What’s wrong?” Bow slid his hand from hers and lightly placed it on her back, in what he hoped was a comforting gesture. Did she hear something? Bow hadn’t noticed anything out of the ordinary, but it was clear something spooked the princess.

“We are no longer alone, Bow. Another presence has joined us. I can feel it.” 

Bow’s eyes darted back and forth, looking for any signs of an intruder. “What do you mean, Perfuma? The door’s shut, and we would have heard someone if they came inside.”

Perfuma shook her head, her blonde hair tickling Bow’s nose. “I don’t know how, but we are not alone. I _felt_ it.”

It seemed silly, but Perfuma looked so serious that Bow had no choice but to believe her. He slid his hand around her waist, and pulled her close to him in a protective gesture. “Do you think they’re malicious?”

“I’m not sure…” Perfuma answered, biting her lip.

Bow started to take a step forward, but jolted backwards when he heard a high-pitched sneeze coming from behind the Hydrangea bushes. He and Perfuma turned towards the direction they heard the noise.

“You go around the left side, and I’ll take the right side,” Bow whispered. Perfuma nodded in agreement, and the two slowly creeped around the opposite sides of the flowers, hoping to cut off an escape route for their eavesdropping intruder. Whom, apparently, had the sniffles.

“Unka Bow?”

Bow abandoned the ambush and sprung out from behind the hydrangeas. “Harper! What are you doing here? How - How did you get here?”

Harper peered up at him from where she was sitting on the floor. Her fluffy pink hair stuck out everywhere, and a massive smile took up most of her face. “Unka Bow! Up!” She lifted her arms and wiggled them towards Bow.

He scooped her up in his arms, still incredulous. “Catra and Scorpia are supposed to be watching you! What is going on?!” There was no way Harper could reach the door knob to even open the door to the garden, let alone sneak in without alerting him or Perfuma. And why was nobody watching her? He was going to have a huge talk with Scorpia and Catra once he ran into them…

Perfuma walked over and gently patted Harper’s head. “Bow… she wasn’t here, then all of the sudden she was here. Is it possible she can teleport, like Glimmer?” 

Bow shook his head furiously. “No way, that’s impossible. Glimmer didn’t learn to teleport until she was ten! If Harper does have magic, it will be years before she discovers how to use it.” 

As if on cue, Harper sneezed again, getting snot all over Bow’s crop top. 

And vanished in a cloud of glitter.

Bow squeaked in surprise, then grabbed his head, his fingernails digging into his scalp. “Oh no, oh no, this can _not_ be happening.” _She could be anywhere, she doesn’t realize the dangers of her powers, what if she teleported and got stuck in a wall or a ceiling, what if she appeared high in the air and fell, what if she trapped herself in a locked room and ran out of magic and was stuck there…_

Perfuma hugged Bow from behind, squeezing him softly around his bare stomach. “Shh, it’s okay, Bow. I can sense her presence. She’s still in the room. She must be hiding somewhere.”

Bow took a deep, steadying breath, and leaned into Perfuma’s embrace. “Okay. It’s okay. We can find her.” He removed himself from her hug, then turned to face her, looking into her teal eyes. “Thank you, Perfuma.” 

She smiled that gorgeous, golden smile. “Of course, Bow. Now, let’s find your niece.” 

The pair split up, wandering through the garden, calling out Harper’s name. The garden was of impressive size, and full of potential hiding places for teleporting toddlers. It could take a long time until they found her. Especially if Harper decided she didn’t want to be found.

“She’s over here!” Perfuma called Bow over, waving her hand excitedly. She was kneeling in front of a patch of colorful flowers with long stems that Bow couldn’t name. 

Bow dashed over, and kneeled beside his girlfriend. Harper peeked out at him from behind the stems, giggling. The toddler probably thought this was a game. 

“Come here, kiddo.” Bow held his hands out, hoping the tot would crawl out and into his arms. She looked tempted, but instead leaned backwards and squeezed her eyes shut as she started inhaling air. She was going to sneeze again.

Perfuma sighed. “Poor baby, she must have a pollen allergy.” 

When Harper sneezed, it was impossibly loud for her tiny size, and once again, she disappeared in a fizz of sparkles.

“Darn it!” Bow held his head in his hands. “We’ll have to find her again. This could take forever. We have to figure out a way to stop her from teleporting.”

Perfuma froze. “Oh, no.”

Bow stood up and began agitatedly pacing. “I know, ‘oh no’ is right. How do you babysit a magical baby? Until she runs out of magic and needs to recharge, there’s no way to stop her powers. And we have no idea how strong her powers are! It could take all night before she runs out of juice!”

“No, wait, Bow…” Perfuma tried to interject.

“And what if she has other powers? What if this is just the beginning? She already learned how to use her powers way faster than Glimmer did, so maybe she has abilities even Glimmer doesn’t have! What if she can levitate? Or turn invisible? Or shoot laser beams out her eyes?”

“Bow, hold on!” Perfuma grabbed Bow’s wrist, stopping his tirade and frustrated pacing. 

Bow just blinked at her.

“Bow, she’s gone.” 

“I know, that’s the problem - “

“No, Bow, she’s gone from _the room_. I can’t feel her presence. She could be anywhere now.”

Bow’s heart sunk in his chest like a lead anchor. “Oh, no… oh, this is terrible! What do we do?”

Before Perfuma could comfort her boyfriend, the door slammed open, and Scorpia and Catra burst inside. Catra was on all fours, her tail standing straight up behind her, and her mismatched eyes wide with anxiety. She darted up to Bow and leapt to her feet, grabbing him by his shoulders, her claws accidentally ripping the material of his shirt. 

“Have you seen her?! Is she here?!” 

“She’s talking about Harper,” Scorpia gasped out. She was leaning against the door frame, out of breath. “She learned how to teleport, and well… we don’t know where she went. Also, sorry to interrupt your date. Hi, Perfuma!” She waved her pincer at the other princess. Perfuma returned the wave. 

“Harper _was_ here, but she’s not anymore,” Bow said. He swatted Catra’s hands off his shoulders. “She could be anywhere by now. Do you have any ideas? Should we split up and search the castle?” As nervous as Bow was about finding his niece, having three other people with him calmed his fears just enough that he could take control of the situation.

Catra hissed in frustration. “Figures. Yeah, I guess we should split up. We can cover way more ground individually than in a group. We still have some time until Adora and Glimmer are back from their date, so we should be fine.” 

Bow nodded. “Okay, I’ll take the west wing. Perfuma, you can take the east wing. Catra, you can -” 

He trailed off as he heard an extremely loud banging noise, that lasted multiple seconds before being replaced with an eerie silence. And then - a loud cheer, that sounded like it came from… Seahawk?

The four stared at each other quietly for a few seconds, before Catra broke the silence. “I bet you a week’s supply of ration bars that Harper had something to do with that.” 

The group ran from the garden and headed towards Seahawk’s room as fast as they could. 

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“You know what? I’m going to say it. This was the worst Mer-Mystery book. Even worse than Mer-Mystery: Riddle of the Deep.” 

Seahawk lounged sideways in an armchair, his legs over one armrest and his shoulders over the other. It couldn’t possibly be a comfortable position, but he refused to sit in a chair the “normal” way. 

“You’re joking. Please tell me you’re joking.” Mermista sat opposite him, resting her feet on the coffee table between them. Her voice sounded as uninterested and dry as usual, but a close friend would be able to notice that she was actually surprised. 

“I’m not joking, my dear!” Seahawk waved his arms around flamboyantly. “I saw the plot twist coming from a nautical mile away! It’s _always_ the butler!” 

“That’s why it’s so shocking,” Mermista drawled. “You expect it to be the butler, but that’s like, _way_ too obvious, so you think it’s anyone _but_ the butler, but, it’s _totally_ the butler.” 

Seahawk shifted position and moved to sit cross legged on the chair. “No, no, no! Twists like that are cheap and a dime a dozen! If I wanted to read something that was poorly written, I would have read The Chronicles of Coral Reef instead!”

Mermista’s eyes narrowed, her gaze darkening. “Oh. You did not just compare Mer-Mysteries to The Chronicles of Coral Reef. Take that back.” 

“I won’t!” Seahawk slammed his fist against the table, as over-dramatic as ever. “This installment was an embarrassment to the entire franchise! It’s clear that the author was under pressure from the publisher to pump out a new book as soon as possible! And unlike in Mer-Mystery: The Diamond in the Rough, this time pressure did _not_ create a gem!” 

Mermista rolled her eyes. “That’s a terrible pun, even for you, Seahawk.”

Seahawk beamed, as though he had earned a well-deserved compliment. “I aim to impress, my love!” 

“Why am I dating you, again?”

“Because you love me!” 

“Debatable.” 

Seahawk continued smiling, unaffected by Mermista’s blase attitude. Mermista could come off as uncaring and perpetually bored, but beneath her uninterested demeanor, she was a passionate and loving woman, an attentive listener, and a loyal friend. Seahawk was proud to call her his girlfriend, even if she acted in public as though she was embarrassed of him. He knew that later, away from other people, she would snuggle with him and talk endlessly with him into the night, and look at him as though he put the stars in the sky. 

He was going to marry her, one day. He just had to work up the nerve to ask her, you know? Even Adora and Glimmer had gotten married before them, and Mermista had caught the thrown bouquet at their wedding… It must have been a sign, right?

But the time wasn’t right yet. He would wait as long as it took. 

Mermista leaned back into the cushions of her chair. “So. Is that all you have to say about the book? Or do you have any other, like, actual critiques?” She twirled a strand of blue hair around her finger. 

“Oh, I have plenty more comments, don’t you worry!” Seahawk lifted his arms, flexing his muscles, because it made him seem cool and strong, even though he was really neither of those things. “But first, I have to ask you something.” 

“Shoot.” 

“Has there always been a small child sitting on the chandelier?”

Mermista directed her gaze upwards towards the golden fixture hanging from the center of the tall ceiling. Her eyes grew wide, and she actually allowed surprise to seep into her voice. “Oh. My God. That’s Harper.” 

Sure enough, Harper was sitting on the ornate frame, the entire fixture swinging softly back and forth. The toddler appeared unafraid, and waved down at the couple from her precarious perch. 

Mermista jumped to her feet, and still staring at Harper, pointed at Seahawk, as though he were personally responsible for the child’s inexplicable appearance. “How long has she been there?” 

Seahawk moved to stand beside her, and stroked his chin. “Hm… I’m not sure. I just noticed her out of the corner of my eye a moment ago. I wasn’t sure if she was supposed to be there or not.” 

Mermista turned on him. “In what universe is a baby on a chandelier a, like, normal occurrence?” 

“I don’t know! Everything always seems so different in Bright Moon. Weird customs, and all that. Anyways, that’s Harper? She’s gotten so big!” 

“Yes, that’s Harper, and we need to get her down. Like, right now. Before she hurts herself. I do not want her to fall and then have us face her mothers’ wrath.” 

“Have no fear, my dear! Seahawk to the rescue!” He pulled the table they had been sitting at to the middle of the room, beneath the chandelier. Harper leaned over carefully, watching his movements, curious. 

“You’re going to stand on the table?” Mermista shook her head in disbelief. “That’s. Not tall enough, Seahawk.” 

“I’m not done yet!” Seahawk grabbed the chairs he and Mermista had been previously occupying next, and with an exaggerated grunt and what he hoped was a magnificent display of his muscles, he stacked them on top of the table. It still wasn’t tall enough to reach the girl. What else could he use…

“This is so not going to work. If you fall and die, I’m not going to your funeral.” 

“Do you have any other ideas?!” Seahawk hauled a tall dresser beside the king size bed over, and using all of his strength, he managed to climb the tower of furniture and place it on top. It still wasn’t quite high enough to reach the chandelier, but it was close enough that he could hold his arms out, and a trusting and brave Harper might be able to jump to him and safety. 

“How did she even get there in the first place?” Mermista mused, interest lightly coloring her words. 

Seahawk, who was in the process of clambering to the top of the wobbling pile of furniture, paused. “That’s a good question. However, it is one we do not have time to answer!” He shakily climbed to his feet on top of the dresser. “Harper, my child! Uncle Seahawk is here to save you!”

Harper clapped her hands together, and giggled hysterically. The chandelier swayed further, rocking even more dangerously than before. If Seahawk wasn’t careful…

“Now listen, Harper. We are going to play a game. The game is very simple. All you have to do is jump into your favorite uncle’s arms, and I’ll carry you back down to safety, and then you can explain to Mermista and I how you managed to get up there in the first place!” 

“She’s too little to explain. She knows, like, three words.” 

Seahawk ignored his girlfriend, and looked imploringly at the tiny toddler, holding his arms out towards her. Harper chewed her lip and made eye contact with Seahawk for an excruciatingly long period of time, as though she was thinking her options through seriously. Then, with little warning, she launched herself from the chandelier and landed in Seahawk’s waiting arms. 

“Gotcha!” Seahawk held the child aloft like she was a prize. However, in doing so, he lost his balance, and the tower started teetering, threatening to drop him and Harper down to the unforgiving floor below. 

“Oh no, this is not good, not good at all -”

“Look out!”

The tower collapsed, the table breaking beneath the combined weight, and the chairs and dresser came tumbling down. Seahawk didn’t even have time to think as the ground came rushing up to meet him and his charge, and he could only hope that Harper would be safe - 

But a lavender glow surrounded him, and he felt as though his entire body, including his insides, were tingling, and then the glow dispersed and he found himself lying on the large bed, Harper sitting on his chest, laughing and thrumming with a light purple energy. 

“Harper!” He cheered. “You can teleport! Of course!” He sat upright and gave the girl a tight, sweaty Seahawk hug. “You saved our lives! You’re a hero! They’ll write sea shanties about you, I’ll make sure of it!”

Mermista sat on the edge of the bed, her face pale. Her voice shook when she spoke. “Never, ever do something that stupid again. Ever.” She turned her attention to Harper, who was still completely unaware of the danger either of them had been in, a goofy smile on her face. 

Before they could decide what to do next, the door to their chamber slammed open, banging against the wall. Bow, Perfuma, Scorpia, and Catra all but exploded into the room, speaking all at once. They let out a collective sigh of relief when they saw Harper sitting on Seahawk’s chest. 

“Oh thank God she’s here,” Bow breathed, resting his hands on his knees. 

Harper turned around to face the disheveled group, excited to see what all the commotion was about. “Yay!” She cheered, punching the air with her pint-sized fist. 

The quartet carefully navigated around the splintered wood and upside down chairs on the floor to the bed. Bow reached the bed first, and sat beside Mermista. “I’m sorry about all this, she just learned how to teleport, and we can’t keep her in one place, and -”

A fuzzy lilac aura began to shimmer around the toddler. She had a mischievous smirk on her face, her eyes bright and playful. 

Everyone began talking at once again.

“No, Harper, don’t!”

“This isn’t a game!”

“Don’t you dare do it!”

“Harper, please!”

The toddler fizzled out of existence. 

All six of the room’s inhabitants sat in stunned silence. 

Seahawk spoke up first. “I love hide and seek!” 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Frosta was bored out of her mind.

The teen had agreed to assist Entrapta with repairing a drone in one of the spare rooms, but only because the purple-haired scientist had begged her. Everyone else in the castle was on dates, and Frosta, fed up with all her older friends being too busy with wooing their romantic partners to spend time with her, had decided that spending an evening with Entrapta was preferable to spending the evening alone stewing in her room. 

Frosta had assumed she’d hand the older woman tools, like screwdrivers, or wrenches, or whatever it is that mad scientists use to tinker with machinery. But it turned out that Entrapta didn’t really have much use for her at all. With her prehensile hair, she was able to grab most of the items she needed without looking up from her work, and none of what she was doing required an extra set of hands. 

Frosta was beginning to realize that what Entrapta wanted wasn’t an assistant, but someone who would listen to her as she rambled about technology for hours. Entrapta almost never stopped talking, and everything she said went way over her head. Frosta would need a phD in engineering just to understand half of the jargon she heard in the past hour. It was alright at first, but now it was beginning to become a bit much. She just nodded her head even though Entrapta couldn’t see her, and threw in an “uh-huh” and an “I see” every twenty seconds. 

“So, as you probably already know, silicon is a semiconductor, but it took a long time for us to realize how to use it effectively, because the conductivity was limited by unstable quantum surface states, since the bonds were unsaturated, but then we figured out how to use surface passivation by thermal oxidation…”

“Wow, that’s cool, Entrapta,” Frosta deadpanned. “Hey, um, do you still need me? Do you mind if I step out to get some fresh air? I’ll be back. Probably. Maybe.” 

“What? Oh, yes, of course, but be back soon, I haven’t gotten to the part about field-effect-transistors yet, and you don’t want to miss that!” Entrapta waved her away with a section of her hair, a drill still held tightly in its grasp. 

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world!” Frosta lied, only feeling a tiny bit guilty about it. She left the soundproof room, quietly shutting the door behind her, and was met with absolute chaos. 

Her entire friend group was running up and down the halls, barging into random rooms, and calling out for Harper everywhere they went. The girl must have gone missing. How did six full grown adults lose a one-year-old child?

Perfuma almost crashed into her, her face worried and red. She looked on the verge of tears. She put her hands on the shoulders of the shorter girl, and apologized. “I’m sorry, Frosta. Harper learned how to teleport, and we can’t find her anywhere. Have you seen her?” Hope and moisture welled up in her eyes. 

“No, I haven’t, I’m sorry, Perfuma.” Frosta glanced at her feet. “I’ve been keeping Entrapta company. She hasn’t shown up in our room.” Frosta looked back up at Perfuma. “What can I do to help?” This wasn’t exactly how she expected the night to go, but it was at least more interesting than listening to Entrapta drone on and on.

“I don’t know, just help us check rooms, I guess… Wait!” Perfuma’s face lit up. “Entrapta! Can you grab her? She’s super smart, maybe she can figure out a way to stop Harper from teleporting!” 

Frosta wasn’t sure if Entrapta had much expertise with magic, but wasn’t magic just a type of science, anyways? “It’s worth a shot, I’ll grab her right now. It might be hard to tear her away from her work, though…”

“Do whatever you have to do. We need to keep her safe until Adora and Glimmer get home!”

“You got it!” Frosta saluted, then re-entered the room she had just left. Entrapta was in the same spot, her hair and arms moving about in a frenzy. 

“Oh, Frosta, you’re already back!” Entrapta sounded delighted, although she didn’t pause in her repairwork. “I’m glad, I have so much more to tell you!”

Frosta took quick strides to the scientist’s side. “That’s great and all, but we have an emergency on our hands. Harper’s missing. She can teleport.”

Entrapta stopped tinkering, but she didn’t make an effort to move from her position. “Oh really? Good for her, she’s just like her mother! Well, one of her mothers, anyway.” 

“No, Entrapta, this is serious! We need to find her, her moms will be home any minute now, and she could be in danger!” 

Entrapta turned her magenta gaze on the younger girl. “As long as she’s in the castle, she can’t be in danger. Plus, she probably only has enough stamina for a few teleports before she tuckers herself out. Everything will be fine.” She offered Frosta a small smile, then went back to her work. 

Frosta groaned. _Ugh, this wasn’t working…_ “Look, Entrapta, we have a job for you. We need you to help us find her, so you can develop a way to stop her from teleporting again. You’re the only one intelligent enough to do it!”

That got her attention. Entrapta unceremoniously dropped her tools to the floor. “Well, why didn’t you say that earlier? Glimmer never lets me do experiments to test her magical abilities, I would love to study Harper!” 

Frosta was pretty sure that Glimmer would object to Entrapta experimenting on her own daughter as well, but she wisely kept her mouth shut, knowing that it was the only thing motivating Entrapta to aid her and her friends. 

The pair left the room, and quickly joined their friends (and several sets of guards) in searching for the toddler. Everyone split up into small groups, and after exploring nearly every room in the castle, they were all at a loss. 

“So, what do we do now?” Scorpia spoke up nervously, tapping her pincers together. Catra stood beside her, with her tail wrapped around herself, rubbing her own arm. The couple were the ones who were originally supposed to be babysitting Harper, and clearly held themselves responsible for the entire mess. 

“Is everyone sure we checked every room?” Bow stood in front of the assembled individuals, trying to sound calm, but his voice cracked with fear.

“Yes,” Mermista answered sullenly. She looked exhausted. “We checked everywhere. Every bedroom, every bathroom, the ballroom, the dining halls, the garden, the training area…”

“And the kitchens!” Seahawk announced happily, crumbs from the chocolate chip cookies he raided from the pantry clinging to his moustache. 

Frosta looked thoughtful. “Is it possible that she teleported to somewhere we already checked?”

“I doubt it,” Entrapta responded. “From what I’ve gathered, she’s teleported at least six times. She can’t possibly have much magical energy left in her body, if her ratio of magic to size is anything like that of Glimmer’s. I would be surprised if she’s able to teleport again.” 

“Wait…” Perfuma looked around wildly. “Did anybody check the throne room?”

A chorus of ''no”’s met her. 

“Then that means…”

Everyone flocked to the throne room, bumping into each other and the walls as they raced down the corridor. Catra, running on all four legs, was at the front of the pack, while Scorpia was at the rear, too afraid of accidentally stabbing someone with her tail to stay in front of anyone. 

Catra pushed the huge doors open, and everyone crashed into each other as they streamed into the giant room. Sure enough, Harper was sitting on the throne itself, looking impossibly tiny and fragile on the royal seat. She looked sleepy, but as she saw everyone rush into the room, she cheered and kicked her feet back and forth. “Yay!” 

Catra and Bow ran so fast to the throne that they both slipped and nearly collided into the dais. They climbed the steps and each put a hand on one of Harper’s shoulders. The little girl smiled up at them, completely oblivious to the mayhem she caused. To her, this was all a game, and a fun one at that. 

Bow scooped the baby into his arms, and planted a huge kiss on her forehead. “We’re so glad you’re safe, Harper! Please, never, never, _ever_ do that again. Okay?”

“‘Kay,” Harper giggled, having no idea what she just agreed to. 

“What’s going on?”

The entire room turned to look at the two new members standing in the grand doorway. Adora and Glimmer entered the room, Adora’s arm wrapped around Glimmer’s waist. The queens were confused, but smiling, still bubbly and high-spirited from their date. 

“Mama! Mommy!” Harper attempted to wiggle free from Bow’s arms, overjoyed that her mothers were home and ready to smother her in affection. She made grabbing motions with her hands, desperately wanting to cross the distance to be held by her parents. Bow started to walk towards the couple, but Harper decided his pace was much too slow, and took matters into her own hands. With a sudden poof, she vanished from Bow’s embrace and reappeared in a very shocked Glimmer’s arms. 

Neither queen said anything, too surprised for words. 

“ _That’s_ what’s going on.” Bow said, walking closer to his best friends. Everyone slowly surrounded the family, looking sheepishly at their shoes, nobody wanting to admit that they’ve spent the better part of the evening searching high and low for the princess. 

Finally, Glimmer and Adora looked at each other, and their surprise morphed into goofy grins. “She can teleport!” They said in unison, Adora wrapping her arms around her wife and daughter, crushing them in a bear hug. 

“Uh...So you’re not mad at us?” Catra quirked an eyebrow. She and Scorpia had been fully prepared to be berated by the pair for temporarily losing their daughter, so this was… unexpected. 

Glimmer shook her head. “It was bound to happen. When I learned to teleport, I managed to set half the castle on fire. I’m honestly surprised she didn’t cause a bigger disaster. I just didn’t think that this would happen so early…” She looked down, and Harper smiled back up at her mom. 

Entrapta stepped forward. “Well, she is the daughter of two powerful, magical princesses,” she commented. “She’s probably one of the most extraordinary beings in all of Etheria. That’s why, I propose you allow me to run some tests…”

Adora looked quick to disagree, but Glimmer placed a reassuring hand on her arm. “Absolutely no experiments… but you can do some simple measurements, and help us devise methods to keep her safe while she learns how to control her powers. She’s too young to understand any of the potential danger she’s putting herself in.”

“But we don’t have to worry about that right now,” Adora cut in quietly. “Look, she’s sleeping.” The toddler was fast asleep despite all the activity happening around her, snoring softly. Adora gently took her daughter from her wife’s arms, letting her rest her head on her shoulder. “Besides, I think she used up all her energy tonight. Until she forms a stable connection with the moonstone, we’ll be safe for a bit longer.” 

“I guess we picked the worst day for a date, huh?” Glimmer looked fondly at the two people she loved most. Then she addressed everyone else in the room. “Thank you for everything. There’s no other group of people I would trust to keep Harper safe.” She looked directly at Catra and Scorpia. “And I’m sorry that your first time watching Harper turned into… this.” 

“Eh, no biggie,” Catra said nonchalantly, hiding the fact that she had been terrified out of her mind.

Scorpia smiled. “It was stressful. Like, really stressful. But I’m just glad everyone’s okay. It happens, you know? And we’d love to watch the tyke again in the future. Once… the magic thing is under control.” 

“Hey, why is everyone so loud?”

The crowd parted ways to allow a gray-haired and very tired Micah to step into the room. He yawned and stretched, shaking off his sleepiness. “What did I miss?”

**Author's Note:**

> This was my first fic in years, and definitely the longest thing I've ever written. If you liked this, consider leaving a kudos or comment! All feedback is greatly appreciated. If you want, you can find me on tumblr under the url athetos.


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